Francis O. Cornwell

Francis O. Cornwell

Francis O. Cornwell (Class of 1940) was the
navigator of a B-17 dispatched to locate a Japanese carrier
task force raiding Alaska's Aleutian Islands. When
previous attempts to find the enemy failed, desperate
commanders assigned Cornwell's outdated aircraft the
mission. They discovered the enemy carriers off Attu and
made a bombing run. Japanese anti-aircraft fire destroyed
the plane, killing Cornwell and fellow college alum,
Edgar
Rogers.